No water pan ?


 
A

Al Smith

TVWBB Fan
After reading another thread that mentioned the Big Drum Smoker, I read the link and it sounds like the BDS does not use a water pan. So what if we did not use a water pan, or sand, or a piedmont in our WSM? What would be the result?
 
You would be cooking direct, not indirect. It works for chicken, esp chicken pieces or spatchcocked chicken, or so I have heard, but probably would not work well for any items that take a little time to render fat and break down connective tissue, as the exterior would burn before the interior was done by BBQ standards.
 
I'll let you know in about 3 or 4 hours because I've got 2 racks of spares on now without the pan (brinkman pan had a leak, had to throw it away...waiting for the other to be delivered).
I started it MM, but only used 6 coals. I've got all the vents shut and the temp is at 220 (lid) after about 30 minutes. Hopefully I can keep the temps down...and hopefully the dripping fat will burn rather than making a mess in the charcoal bowl.

I had to do it. I was dying for ribs and couldn't wait for the Brinkman pan!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil R.:
I'll let you know in about 3 or 4 hours because I've got 2 racks of spares on now without the pan (brinkman pan had a leak, had to throw it away...waiting for the other to be delivered).
I started it MM, but only used 6 coals. I've got all the vents shut and the temp is at 220 (lid) after about 30 minutes. Hopefully I can keep the temps down...and hopefully the dripping fat will burn rather than making a mess in the charcoal bowl.

I had to do it. I was dying for ribs and couldn't wait for the Brinkman pan! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

what happened to your stock pan
 
Tony,

I got my WSM at a thrift store ($12!). It didn't have the original pan with it. The only one i've ever used has been the brinkman pan.

Temp is at 242 lid now and holding fairly steady...
 
After 2 hours (with vents completely shut) the temp peaked at about 260 and is starting to drop a bit (now at 248). I think the wood might have been burning causing the temps to go up initially. Maybe I don't need that brinkman pan after all...
 
Well, I have to say the ribs were really good. Absolutely no different than using water/sand...and temp control was actually really easy (I just kind of sat back and drank a few beers and watched it
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). Seriously, I think if you start with few coals (depending on the amount and temp of the meat you're cooking) you really don't need the water. I had all the vents shut from the get go...and the lid temps never exceeded 260. If nothing else, I think I saved a lot of charcoal by not needlessly heating the water in the water pan. After the cook was done, I shut the top vent too. I'll be interested to see how much charcoal I have left tomorrow morning.
An idea I had was to maybe lay the briquettes out in such a way as to minimize temp spikes...like in a line (or something) with each lit briquette touching only 1 other. I thought maybe it would make the temps easier to control and save charcoal more.
 
My initial post question is intended for low/slow without a pan of any kind. Would it work maybe starting with a few coals?
Phil R, did you have a pan in when you did the ribs?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Al Smith:
Would it work maybe starting with a few coals?
Phil R, did you have a pan in when you did the ribs? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's exactly what I did...I started with only 6 coals. I filled the charcoal ring halfway with unlit K and placed the lit 6 in the middle. I had no pan in at all. Worked great! Temps never got over 260 at the lid. I think it would work even better with a larger amount of meat...say a couple of big butts or something. I only had 2 racks of spares.
 
Phil, thanks....that's interesting. I think I'll try it. The key apparently is starting with fewer coals than a usual MM. It would be good to not have a pan to bother with at all.
I am fairly new to the WSM thing....hard to imagine there isn't some drawback to this.
David L. did state that it would be direct instead of indirect cooking and could burn the meat before it got done, and possibly rendering would not occur.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Al Smith:
direct instead of indirect cooking and could burn the meat before it got done, and possibly rendering would not occur. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's not direct cooking. It's direct in that the meat is "directly" above the coals, but it's far enough away not to sear the meat or anything. Cooking on the WSM with or without pan is always indirect because the meat is so far away from the coals.
 
Al,

Somewhere around there. I also put a few to the side (not touching the burning coals) because I knew the fire would "spread" and start those smoking as well. But I'm not sure I needed to because even the chunks I placed directly on top of the lit were not fully consumed this am. The cool thing? I cooked 2 racks of spares for 5 hours with only 16 briquettes!
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One thing that's slightly different with my WSM that might have made a difference, though...I have a gasket between the charcoal bowl and midsection, and the door on mine is *super* tight (it didn't seem to have a good seal...so I put some clamps on it.) In other words, maybe it worked well withmine because the thing is practically airtight with the vents shut.
 
Where did you get aluminum tape? my door leaks a lot. When I close all vents the coals never go out till they slowly burn all out( no more charcoal) Can take over a day. So what I have been doing is using a spatula and putting all the coals in a large tin can and put the top on.
 
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